Zambarau Concord Mbili/Samakiwadago
The Samakiwadago are a species of sapient aquatic animals created by the Zambarau. Samakiwadago and their environments can be found all over the Zambarau Concord Mbili, and their derivations make up the most populous group in the whole civilisation with by far the highest collective influence over the Zambarau Concord Mbili. Environment The Samakiwadago came about on the ocean planet Ahdm'pya. Ahdm'pya is completely covered in a planet-wide ocean hundreds of kilometres deep, beneath a thick atmosphere primarily composed of oxygen and water vapour; the planet is very hot due to the high levels of water vapour in the atmosphere inducing a strong greenhouse effect. As there is no land to break up atmospheric currents, winds are very strong, and the planet has at least one permanent cyclone which plies over the ocean. This combination of environmental conditions results in a highly volatile world. The planetary ocean is slightly oxygenated due to constant stirring by the planetary storm systems, causing oxygen from the atmosphere to dissolve into the water. This, combined with the high temperature of the planet, makes the oceans highly corrosive, causing organic molecules that would typically be ideal in less corrosive environments to break down intolerably quickly. As would be expected, before the colonisation of Ahdm'pya by the seedship, the only native life present was primitive, short-lived prokaryotes, that had yet to develop into eukaryotes (though such an evolutionary step seemed unlikely anyway). Biochemistry The Samakiwadago have an extremely stable biochemistry which would typically be ineffective, as it would be too difficult to break down the organic molecules in order for the chemical reactions necessary for biological processes to take place; however, the volatile environment of Ahdm'pya makes the Samakiwadago biochemistry ideal. The basis of Samakiwadago genetic material is a string of alternating silicon and oxygen atoms; this is a highly stable basis, as silicon and oxygen atoms usually form silicon dioxide crystals (they cannot, in this case, because of the surrounding chemical bonds). Around this string of atoms are bonded carbon atoms, which prevent the strings from bonding together into useless crystals; the carbon atoms also form the basis of more typical carbon based molecular structures. For further stability, many of the hydrogen atoms within these structures have been replaced by larger fluorine atoms; the result is a biochemistry that can be best referred to as being based upon 'fluorosilicones'. Other organic molecules within the Samakiwadago are also based on fluorosilicones. Because of their hybrid carbon- and silicon-based biochemistry, the Samakiwadago produce both carbon dioxide and silicon dioxide during respiration. Samakiwadago blood is deliberately kept quite volatile to break down dissolved silicon dioxide and preventing it from crystallising, which would be disastrous for the poor Samakiwadago. AnatomyCategory:Zambarau Concord MbiliCategory:SamakiwadagoCategory:Articles by User:Mr.RobboCategory:Sapient beingsCategory:Creatures The body of a Samakiwadago is based on a simple ellipsoid shape; this contains all of the main internal organs, including the brain; most of the Samakiwadago bone structure can be found in this part of the body. Samakiwadago are neither endoskelital or exoskelital; their bodies are supported by a wiry, tough but flexible trellis of bones attached to each other at crossing points by tough masses of collagen. These masses of collagen is where new bone grows from as Samakiwadago mature. Samakiwadago don't have a front or back as such (though they have a main direction of travel), and this can lead to confusion; as such, the terms 'mouthward' and 'finward' will be used. At their mouthward end, Samakiwadago have a collection of short feeding tentacles, used for display and to manipulate food entering the mouth, which is hidden and beak-like. The feeding tentacles conceal three much longer manipulative tentacles, which are highly dexterous and extendable up to several metres; each splits radially at the tip into three 'fingers', which have a multitude of specialised suckers that can change shape to a limited degree, themselves being highly dexterous and resilient. Waste is excreted from the mouth, so regular cleaning of the tentacles is often performed, though not too often, as it is considered a complement to be excreted on by another Samakiwadago. At the finward end is the two fins and the gills, which take in water to extract the oxygen; Samakiwadago can process both the water and air of their planet for oxygen, though they do not like to spend prolonged periods in air as they can become extremely uncomfortable if they are allowed to dry out. Samakiwadago propel themselves peristaltically, taking in water from gill-like openings on their finward end, and spraying the water out of their mouths; in water, their fins merely serve as fine-steering devices. One of the most astonishing traits of Samakiwadago is their capacity for limited flight; propelling themselves at high speeds out of the ocean, they open up their fins and splay their feeding tentacles, revealing the webbing, and glide through the air at considerable speed. With some practice, Samakiwadago can take advantage of the strong winds on Ahdm'pya to travel considerable distances with little expenditure of energy by intermittently jumping out the the water, gliding for a few seconds, then splashing back down. This is a very efficient form of travel, as well as being an excellent form of display, good fun and a useful technique for getting rid of water-borne parasites. Reproduction Due to their general disregard for tradition and fixed hierarchies, as well as their strong needs for social contact and the fulfillment of physiological needs, Samakiwadago attempt to reproduce freely with each other, with no form of commitment, introductions or formality. A typical Samakiwadago will attempt reproduction on a daily basis; as such, it is very rare for reproduction to be successful, otherwise there would be a serious overpopulation problem. During reproduction, two Samakiwadago intertwine their feeding tentacles, and these are the surfaces over which genetic material is exchanged; if fertilisation occurs successfully, the fertilised egg will travel down tiny canals running down each feeding tentacle into the reproductive organ of the Samakiwadago, where it grows into a small worm-like creature (more than one is rare); this creature is eventually released and has to fend for itself as it grows into a Samakiwadago; before it reaches maturity, before it has reached a sapient level of intelligence, the adolescent Samakiwadago will be attracted to the nearest group of Samakiwadago, where it must successfully integrate itself into society. There is no 'adoption'; the typical unit of Samakiwadago society is the group (numbering in the dozens or hundreds), not the family. As was mentioned before, successful reproduction is rare, because the exchange of genetic material skin-to-skin is not very effective and often unsuccessful; it is also rare that a Samakiwadago will make it to full maturity after being born (Samakiwadago often even eat the worms they give birth to). All Samakiwadago are capable of becoming pregnant; in total there are seven different genders with different unique characteristics, such as colour (this is to prevent a Samakiwadago accidentally mating with itself) which, interestingly, Samakiwadago are able to choose themselves; they can also change their genders at any point in their lives. This is thanks to their excellent control over their own hormonal processes. Senses The primary sense of the Samakiwadago is sight; they have a pair of very large eyes providing near-all-round vision. Though they only have binocular vision over a small region projecting from their mouthward end, their resolving ability is excellent, even in low-light conditions. They also have a third eye on the tops of their mouthward ends, which detects specific high frequencies of radiation characteristic of an incoming coronal mass ejection from the sun; if this happens they know to stay away from the surface of the ocean to prevent radiation poisoning. Like the Zambarau, Samakiwadago skin can produce and detect light signatures; unlike the Zambarau, Samakiwadago cannot communicate in detail with this trait, and mainly use it for display or decoration (treatments are available to change the colours and patterns of the light signature of a Samakiwadago, which, from birth, is unique to that individual). Samakiwadago are also excellent at detecting the chemical composition of the water they are passing though, as the water covers a large internal surface area while the Samakiwadago is propelling itself via peristalsis. They have basically no sense of sound; what little sense they do have is primarily down to feeling the vibration of water against their epidermis more than anything else; what they do have is an excellent sense of magnetism, and they are able to pinpoint their location on a planet to an outstanding accuracy via the planet's magnetic field (Samakiwadago that have been brought up off-world are much less accurate, as they are not used to the ambient magnetic field). Communication Samakiwadago communicate using weak biological magnetic fields, which they can produce themselves and are highly sensitive to. By modulating their magnetic fields, Samakiwadago can communicate information to each other; special metal constructs can be used as amplifiers when speaking to crowds, asconductive metals can replicate and carry magnetic fields imposed on them. The Samakiwadago have developed several different languages and dialects, most of which are derived from the Zambarau Communication Protocols; among Samakiwadago, Zambarau Communication Protocols are the most common language. Samakiwadago also communicate chemically, creating chemical cocktails of hormones and pheramones in their bodily waste, which they then excrete onto others to send different messages at an emotional level. Psychology Due to their highly developed sense for analysing the chemical composition of their water, Samakiwadago have a very large limbic system. This has the side effect of making Samakiwadago highly sensitive to their emotions; they are slightly more distractable than is the norm, and are very creative in their thoughts, coming up with ideas out of the blue that are often complex and abstract, and occasionally genius; they also have very good short-term memories. Though they are very sensitive to pain, Samakiwadago are excellent at controlling their aggressive instincts, allowing them to think through stressful situations rationally (though, due to their distractable behaviour, they will often become tired of thinking things rationally, and adopt a 'forgive and forget' attitude). Samakiwadago have very few hard-wired instincts and primitive thought processes. They don't have much of an impetus to organise themselves into a hierarchy like pack animals and hardly have any ritual practices or traditions that have been passed through the generations; their fashions and systems of government change on a regular basis, resulting in a very fluid, creative and adaptable society. Social contact and the fulfillment of physiological needs are very important to Samakiwadago (hence their surprising reproductive practices), after which comes emotional support and self-esteem; due to the rather benevolent ecology they developed in, Samakiwadago are surprisingly unconcerned with safety and security; they are risk takers.